Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, known in Europe and Australia as Luigi's Mansion 2, is an action-adventure video game developed by Next Level Games and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS, and is the sequel to the 2001 game Luigi's Mansion for the GameCube. The game was first released in Japan on March 20, 2013, and in most other major regions later that same month. It is the third Mario game where Luigi is the protagonist, after Mario Is Missing and the original Luigi's Mansion. In Dark Moon, the player takes control of the Mario franchise character Luigi, who is equipped with the Poltergust 5000, a specialized vacuum cleaner used to capture ghosts. In the game's single-player mode, the main goal is to retrieve the pieces of the shattered Dark Moon, a magical object that has a pacifying effect on the ghosts residing in the game's setting, Evershade Valley, by seeking out the shards in the five haunted mansions located therein. Dark Moon offers a cooperative multiplayer mode that can be played locally or online via Nintendo Network. The game received critical acclaim from critics, with them praising the games 3D visuals and new features, but some criticism was given for the game's lack of checkpoints. Gameplay Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon is an action-adventure game in which the main playable character is Luigi, who is sent by Professor E. Gadd to explore abandoned haunted mansions and capture hostile ghosts using the Poltergust 5000, a specialized vacuum cleaner. In the main single-player mode, the player explores five different mansions that are each designed around a specific theme, such as an overgrown greenhouse and a clock factory built over an archaeological site, to retrieve the Dark Moon fragment hidden within. Exploration through a mansion is divided into multiple mission-based levels that focus on completing a number of objectives, such as retrieving an object, accessing a particular room, or defeating a stronger boss ghost. At the end of each mission, the player is scored based on various factors such as the treasures and ghosts collected. If during a mission Luigi takes too much damage from ghost attacks or from environmental hazards and loses all his heart points, he will faint and the player must restart the mission. If the player finds and collects a golden bone, Luigi will be revived the first time he faints and will be able to continue the mission instead of starting over. The Nintendo 3DS touchscreen shows a mini-map of the mansion's layout, with locations of both locked and unlocked doors. The character Toad accompanies Luigi in certain missions. When the player obtains the Dark Moon fragment hidden in a mansion, he can progress to the next mansion, and the player completes the game upon collecting all six Dark Moon fragments. To capture a ghost, the player first stuns the ghost using Luigi's flashlight equipped with the Strobulb attachment. While Luigi's Mansion only required the player to simply shine the light upon the ghost, in Dark Moon, the player instead charges the Strobulb to release an intense burst of light that acts similar to a flashbang. When stunned, the ghost's hit points are exposed, allowing Luigi to vacuum the ghost to decrease its hit points until it is weak enough to be captured. Luigi can vacuum up to three ghosts simultaneously. Some types of ghosts wear protection against the Strobulb and need to be tricked into becoming vulnerable. In addition to capturing ghosts, the suction and blowing functions of the Poltergust 5000 are used to manipulate and carry objects seen in the environment. Many of the game's puzzles are designed around this concept. For example, the player uses the vacuum to carry buckets of water, yank pull switches, spin valve handles, and propel small objects. Other objects, such as certain types of switches and locks, react only when exposed to the Strobulb flash. Early in the game, the player obtains the Dark-Light Device item, which allows the flashlight to reveal invisible doors and furniture. Dark Moon features a cooperative multiplayer mode called "ScareScraper" (Thrill Tower in Europe), in which up to four players each control a differently colored Luigi. The players explore each floor of a mansion and complete the specified objective within a time limit. When the objective is completed, the players ascend to the next floor. The floors are all randomly generated, with different floor layouts and placement of ghosts and items, and the players may select to ascend a mansion that either has a finite or endless number of floors. Four different objective types are available: Hunter, in which all the ghosts on the floor must be captured; Rush, where players race to find the exit to the next floor; Polterpup, where players pursue and capture ghost dogs; and Surprise, in which one of the other three objectives is randomly chosen per floor. "ScareScraper" can be played locally or online via Nintendo Network. File Formats * .wav (Sound) * .cpk (File package) * .dat (Container format) * .sfd (Movie) Media For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Media. Videos Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon / Videos Voice Sounds Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon / Voice Sound Category:Mario Category:Mario Games